


Fairy Tale

by makingitwork



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aristocrat Draco, But you couldn't tell, Good Draco, Happy Ending, Hinted at Bottom Draco, Horcruxes, M/M, Prince Draco, fairy tale, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-25 19:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2633660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makingitwork/pseuds/makingitwork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's lost in the woods when he comes upon a palace that offers shelter from the rain. </p><p>The handsome boy inside is just a bonus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fairy Tale

Harry was lost.

Completely lost, and soaking wet, because the rain didn't seem to care whether or not he could see out of his glasses or not. And that's when he stumbled out of dense forest, and froze. He was standing on a long winding driveway. He brought a sodden hand up to peer ahead, gasping at the large palace before him. It was beautiful, tall, modern, but with spires and towers, a stable off in the right. But it was white, silver and green. Which meant Slytherin. Harry swallowed thickly, pushing up the drive, wand clenched tight in his hand.

There were beautiful fairy-lights twirling around the door, like something out of a story. And Harry knocked three times.

He knew it was late evening, but he hoped someone was home. Surely with a palace of this size, at least one person would be home.

The door swung open, and there, hallowed in a warm light from inside, stood a boy about Harry's age. Except he looked like a Prince. Tall, silver eyes that matched the palace, white blond hair perfectly in place, tight white trousers and a black turtleneck, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He was wandless. But Harry would be a fool not to sense the magic rolling off him. "Oh. You're wet." The boy didn't look so impressed, but at Harry's irritated expression he smiled "Yeah, come in..."

"Harry."

"Harry, please come in," he gestured him inside, and the wards shut around him. As soon as he was inside, he cast a drying spell. Outside there had been no point, but at least now he knew was getting some shelter. "I'm Draco," Harry nodded, restoring feeling in his fingers, as Draco watched, amused. Thunder crackled outside. "Are you hungry?" Harry thought about being polite, but this could be his only chance to eat for a while, so he nodded. "I was just having a meal myself, you're welcome to join me." His voice was aristocratic, but he seemed so nice, so Harry let himself get led into a large dining room. The dining table was loaded with food, and there at least 12 chairs.

"You were eating alone?"

"My parents are attending a gala," he sat down at the head of the table, and gestured for Harry to sit adjacent to him. They ate silently for a few moments, or rather Draco cut his chicken beautifully, while Harry felt a bit like Ron, loading everything onto his plate, and only barley managing to use his knife and fork. "So Harry, you must tell me why you were out in the Forest. Alone." His eyes flashed, but Harry reminded himself that Draco didn't have his wand. Harry did.

"I got lost." He murmured "And it's actually private if you don't mind?"

Draco seemed amused. "I'm offering you shelter, warm food, protection, and presumably a place to sleep tonight. You can't tell me? That's fine." He looked away "I've got to tell you though, Harry, if it was Horcruxes you were after, you were led to the right place."

Harry stared at him.

Draco resumed eating, placing a carrot into his mouth. "But that can't be anything to do with it, right?"

"What do you know about Horcruxes?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"This isn't some joke, Draco. These are important."

"I'm quite sure." Someone entered the room through the floo, and Harry knew instantly that this was Draco's mother. She was beautiful, almost as beautiful as her son. "Mother," Draco stood up, arching an eyebrow "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, of course, Draco dear," she touched his shoulder with a smile "I was just fetching some different shoes, your father's in the mood for dancing-" she paused, spotting Harry, and stilled. "Who's your friend, Draco?"

"Harry. He got lost in the rain."

"Oh." She touched Harry's shoulder "Well dear, feel free to make yourself at home. Draco, get a room made up for him, won't you?"

"Naturally." He nodded, watching her rush out of the room, and then back. She pecked Draco's cheek, before disappearing into the fireplace. Draco sat back down, encouraged Harry to continue eating with a wave of his hand. Harry did, quenching his thirst and appetite. "Maybe in the morning," Draco began, murmuring "If the weathers fine, we could out riding? I have two horses."

Harry frowned, swallowing the delicious food "I don't think I'll be staying for that long, sorry. Got a long journey ahead of me."

"How long has your journey lasted thus far?"

Harry frowned again. _Thus far?_ What the hell? Where even was he? He took a sip of water, glad it was water and not anything fancy like wine. Before realising that he'd never poured water for himself. Water had just appeared. He peered at the goblets of the place settings beside him and opposite him. Their goblets were empty. He paled a little, wondering what he'd walked in too. "A few months." He said vaguely, wondering when he should make his leave, before he looked up, to see Draco laughing. He looked the perfect image of upper-class relaxation. Leaning back in the red plush chair, smirking into his own goblet.

"They're charmed, Potter." Draco chuckled "Magic goblets, fills up with whatever the person touching it wants to drink. We cater for all here at Malfoy Manor."

"Malfoy Manor?" Harry relaxed "I thought this was a palace or something." Draco laughed, and Harry watched as his goblet refilled itself. He was stuffed now, full to bursting, and Draco seemed to sense that about him. He stood wordlessly, leading him up a large, red staircase, and then another, less grand one. He stopped in front of a door, opening it. The bed was all made in gold and bronze. "Thank you," Harry murmured "For all your hospitality. Honestly, this is more than I could have asked for."

Draco nodded "There's an ensuite. I think a hot bathe would do you good,"

Harry did take that bath. He normally hated Clawfoot bathtubs, but this one was wide and deep, and immediately filled with scented bubbles and hot water that tinted his skin pink. He sighed, closing his eyes, content to just sleep like this. But after two hours, he dragged himself out, dried himself, and literally fell into bed. Falling fast asleep, at only 8:30 pm.

...

...

...

He woke up at 9 o'clock the next morning, sunlight streaming onto his face, and his body felt completed rested with it's over 12 hour rest. He pulled himself up, the smooth bed-sheets soft against his naked body. And he blinked upon seeing new clothes waiting for him. Not one to be ungrateful, and the fact that his old clothes stunk so bad he doubted the smell would ever go. He dressed in clean pressed jeans, and a long sleeved plaid t-shirt. Glad for the Muggle Clothing, he also tugged on the black coat. He jogged downstairs, and upon finding no sign of Draco he was content to just sneak out.

Except when he left the front door, and Draco was there, only a sleek black horse, looking regal and beautiful in a white summer shirt and white jeans, smiling in the sunlight. He was holding the rains of a Chestnut Horse that stood beside him. "There are you, Harry. You clean up well," he flashed an award winning smile "Ready for that ride? We have huge amounts of land, and a few acres of the forest. I could show you around?"

Harry stared up at him, in disbelief. Before nodding slowly. "I've only ever ridden once before, so you'll have to forgive me." He clambered on, sitting comfortably, and they settled into a gentle trot.

"Oh don't worry about it, Sapphire over there is very well-trained. She won't do anything untoward against you." They walked amicably for a while "We have a few magical creatures, like Hippogriffs, but we don't like keeping them contained, so we let them fly free. Only they're hardly ever here. When they are though...oh Harry, you'll have to be around for that. Stunning creatures. Beautiful." Harry nodded, warming to Draco the further into the sunlit forest they wandered. He realised that Draco was _lonely._ No one else his age around, only the two annual balls his parents would hold, and a few strange cousins who came to visit.

_They're charmed, Potter._

Harry didn't know why that fluttered into his mind, but it did. He watched Draco stand on the rungs of the saddle, tugging a green apple from a tree, and another for Harry who took it easily. Harry Potter. Draco had known his full name. But how? Everyone knows Harry Potter, his mind argued. You and that scar on your forehead, everyone knows who you are, even a social idiot like Draco. "You were talking about Horcruxes last night."

"Yes," Draco nodded, slowing his horse so it fell beside Harry's "How many have you found?"

"Four."

"All destroyed?"

"Yes."

Draco hummed. "That's impressive. But also foolish. It's dangerous to do that kind of thing alone."

"Even more dangerous to do it with people I care about."

Draco's crunch into the apple draws Harry's attention to his mouth. Which is undoubtedly a mistake. His lips are thin and pink, and look soft to the touch. "Hmm..." he swallows "Well, a while ago, I was home alone. I don't know. I was 9 maybe? And a man knocks on the door of the Manor." He's looking up at the intricate web of branches that cover the sky "He was like you. Much older- a man. But," he shrugs "Drenched. Handsome looking, I guess, with dark hair and dark eyes, and I offered him inside. My parents had fallen asleep in the reception room, so I invited him. Offered him food, the way I was raised, and he..." Draco sighs "He ate, and he drank, and I offered to show him a guest bedroom, but he insisted that he should tuck _me_ in. So he did. And the next morning I woke up to see him leaving the room. So I asked him where he was going now, and he said he had to see some old friends. He was leaving when...the locket fell out of his pocket. I went to pick it up for him, but as soon as I touched it...I knew it was evil. I could feel it. And so I slipped it into my pocket, and waved him goodbye."

Harry can barely breathe. He knows who Draco is describing. He knows this is Voldemort. And it amazes him that Voldemort had the decency to spare this family. Spare this little boy.

"I waited for days to see if he would come back. But he never did. Years passed and...my god, Harry, when I heard that knock on the door last night, I thought for sure he was back."

"You know he was, don't you?"

"With time yes, I came to realise."

"The locket is a horcrux."

"The fifth one you've found." Draco slides a hand into his pocket and hands it over, smiling "Slytherin's Locket," he whispered "I've been waiting for a long time, Harry, to give that to someone. I hope to god you destroy it soon." Draco turns, pulling his horse away, and gestures for Harry not to follow "You're back in the forest, Harry. Keep on hunting, keep the horse, Sapphire will be good to you." He smiles softly, forlornly "I'm afraid my family won't be much help during the war. We're irritatingly neutral. But please, send any injured or hungry our way, I'm happy to look after them." He pulls back, before galloping away, and Harry stares after him.

...

...

...

ONE YEAR LATER

Harry knocks on the door, nervous. His scar hasn't pained him for months, but he's been putting this off for a few weeks, and he wasn't sure why.

Draco opened it with a radiant smile. "Why Harry, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten me."

"I'm getting married." Harry stated bluntly, and Draco's eyebrows raised. Before he smiled

"Well that's cause for celebration, come in," and Harry went inside. Everything seemed familiar, everything felt like home, even though it was much too expensive for little old him. "Are you here because you want to host the wedding here? It's a beautiful Venue, my parents did that, many others have too. I thought I might one day, if I ever got married." He walks into the kitchen, and Harry follows close on his heels. All the windows are open, and there's half a cut carrot on a chopping board. Draco cooks. Harry thinks.

"Why wouldn't you get married?"

"Ah," Draco wrinkles his nose "I'm a bit of a snob. I always want expensive gifts, I don't appreciate anything less, no matter how much work was put into it. I don't really know how to interact with people correctly. I have a stifling lack of personality." He sighs, gesturing to his wand on the counter. "Only 12 inches. Shortest in the family so far. Short wands mean lack of personality."

Harry's eyebrows drew together "Well I don't think any of that's true at all."

"Thank you, Harry, but you've known me less than 24 hours."

That was weird. But true. But it felt like longer. It felt as though he had known Draco his entire life. "You seem like something out a fairy tale, you know? Something not quite real." He leaned against the counter, massaging his temples. "Her names Ginny, she's my best friends sister." Draco leaned against the opposite counter, watching him. Waiting for more. "I don't know. She's nice, pretty, makes my heart do all those cliché things. She's been by my side since the beginning, and I don't think I can picture life without her. She's everything I always expected. Everything I always wanted."

"It sounds perfect, Harry. I'm happy for you."

"You don't sound happy."

"Neither do you."

They both shot each other smirks. Before Harry sighed. "But I barely know you Draco, you're right. And it would be...wrong, to leave her for someone I barely know. What if I do that and then later down the line find out that we don't get along at all? That we're mortal enemies?" His green eyes flickered down Draco's lithe body. He couldn't ever imagining hating this man. And before he knew it, Draco was right in front of him, pressing him into the counter, hips together. Harry swallowed. "I don't want to cheat on her."

"That's a good plan," Draco whispered, cool breath fanning onto Harry's face, and his eyes closed.

Harry knew what he was meant to do. His entire body screamed at him to do it, but instead, he pushed Draco away gently by his shoulders, whispering a minute sorry, and leaving.

He _thinks_ but isn't sure, that just before he leaves, he can hear Draco crying.

...

...

...

The day before the wedding, Harry calls it off.

He goes to Malfoy Manor, the doors opened by Draco, and Harry kisses him. They wind up in bed together, Harry spooning Draco, kissing down the back of his neck in their hazy after glaze. And he knows he's made the right decision.

...

...

...

"Everyone," Harry smiles nervously "This is Draco, my...my boyfriend. Fiancé. All of the above." He holds Draco's hands tightly as they stand in Mrs Weasley's home. Hermione and Ron greet him with smiles, but Ginny and the twins are glaring. Draco's wearing a red jumper, a gift from Harry, with some faded jeans. So he seems more Muggle. So they like him.

"Hi," Draco says quietly. For all his confident nobility, he's nervous, and that makes Mrs Weasley pounce all over him. She offers him warm tea and muffins, and sits him near the fireplace because his skin is so pale he looks cold.

"So, how did you meet?" she asks

Draco shoots Harry a glance, and Harry nods encouragingly "Um...Harry was lost, in the forest in the rain, and he knocked on my door. So I...offered him inside, some food, we went horse-riding in the morning, I gave him a horcrux to destroy and we didn't see each other again till a few months ago-"

"You knew him for a night?" Ginny sobbed, drawing everyone's attention "You met this...this snotty little rich boy, and you fall for him in a night? What? Did he suck you so har-"

"Ginny!" Mrs Weasley frowned, angrily "We don't speak like that to-"

"He's a better whore for you than I am, right Harry?" Ginny sobs, and Fred touches her shoulder, but she flings him off, running upstairs.

Fred stands too "She's right you know-"

"Fred-"

"She _is._ I mean...Harry must have cheated on h-"

"I never cheated on Ginny!" Harry cried, outraged "Use a truth serum on me if you don't believe me!"

"Harry-" Draco stood up, "Stop this," his eyes were soft and gentle, and he gripped Harry's wrist in his delicate fingers "This was a mistake, I told you I didn't want to pull you from you friends." He took out his wand, kissing Harry's cheek "I'll see you at home."

"Draco, no-" Harry choked "You can't-"

Draco headed for the floo, nodding politely at everyone, before disappearing.

Hermione stood, going to touch Harry's arm "For what it's worth Harry, I thought he was wonderful." Ron nodded.

...

...

...

Draco cried into his chest that night. For someone so unused to social interaction like that, to be shunned by an entire family was too much for him to bear. Harry held him together, held him tight against him, hands smoothing down his spine. Lulling him into a restless sleep. He had move seamlessly into Draco's house. His parents, he discovered had left months ago, moving to another one of their villas, as was per family tradition. And Harry's stuff found place and purchase and it became their home, and their clothes in the wardrobe. They cooked together, spent weekends riding around their land on horses, and when the Hippogriffs came, Draco was right, it was _beautiful._ Something out of a fairy tale.

And so when the wedding drew nearer, they brought the Weasley's to them. Draco watches Ginny, guardedly.

And then she approaches him, while the others are chatting. "I'm sorry, Draco," she says quietly, face bowed "But you understand that I loved him, right?"

"I understand." He smiled "And I also know that people do anything for love, any way they know how."

Her shoulders relax "But I don't love him anymore. I've met someone. An old someone. Dean. You probably don't know him but..." she gives him a side hug "It's nice to have you as part of the family now. I hope you can forgive me."

...

...

...

A few months later, the day draws to a close, and the sun falls slowly. Harry, on his horse, reaches over and link Draco's hand "Can we just walk into the sunset?" He murmurs.

Draco laughs; "What a perfect ending."

**Author's Note:**

> Comment and I'll faint with joy.  
> x


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